Six shall turn it back
Three from the circle, three from the track
I was going to work this into a Bricker Challenge, but I haven’t had time, and I’m curious – anyone remember this?
Sounds like something from that lame movie Something Wicked This Way Comes.
The Dark is Rising series, Bricker? Over Sea, Under Stone…The Dark is Rising…Greenwitch…The Grey King…Silver on the Tree? Hell yeah I remember that. I have the first three. I need to get my hands on the last two and I’ll have the collection. Fantastic books.
I rode Omni in Springfield, IL
And grrrrrrr Demo…I love that movie 
I rode Omni in Springfield, IL
I hate triple posting…but I just found this again
When the dark comes rising, six shall turn it back
Three from the circle, three from the track
Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire stone;
Five will return, and one go alone
That was my first brush with true fantasy and I still remember wishing I could have been Will Stanton and be the Sign Seeker and one of the Old Ones, the last to be born 
I actually made a roleplaying character based on the story - her name is Claudia.
I rode Omni in Springfield, IL
Talera, you rock! That’s it, as well.
I, too, was thrilled at that series, and thought it was amazing… but it seems to have vanished. No one’s heard of it. I wish I had the books now…
I think I can, from memory, do all the stanzas.
- Rick
We’ve got two copies of the entire series: one in paperbacks of each book, and one hardbound, all of the books in one.
We got the hardbound recently, in the last two years, via the Science Fiction book club. Check em out.
I just haven’t been the same since that house fell on my sister.
Ah, but can you recite the other poem? The one from The Grey King?
Me neither.
Great books. My copies say “Young Adult” on them, and sure, the main characters are about 12 years old, but IMO, one is never too old to read those books.
~Harborina
“Don’t Do It.”
Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold, Played to wake the sleepers, oldest of the old. Then some line I can’t remember, about something lost beneath the sea, I think. All shall find the Light at last, silver on the tree.
Darn, I need to read those books again.
Nightingale sighs and plans for a trip to the library in the am
“There are more things you don’t know than there are things that I do know. I despair of the imbalance.” – Dr. Morgenes, The Dragonbone Chair
You talking about:
On the day of the dead when the year too dies
Must the youngest open the oldest hills
That’s all I remember.
- Rick
I’ve only heard of it, Bricker, because I’m an absolute bookworm and I’ve read some of the obscurest things Susan Cooper also wrote another really good book called Shadows on the Wall. There was supposed to be more to the story, a sequel or a two, but I’ve never been able to find them. Does anyone know of them? And thanks for the tip, Suzeanne. That’s my book club.
I rode Omni in Springfield, IL
Right, that one. Something about kestrels, too, I forget what.
On a side note, I went to Wales in 1998. People before and since have told me that Wales is boring and not worth going to, but I was psyched! I liked Wales, anyway. It’s quiet and green with lots of sheep. What could be better?
~Harborina
“Don’t Do It.”
I read them when I was about 10 or 11 … not bad, liked the Arthurian angle but IMHO, you CAN be too old to read them. I suspect if you picked them up again tomorrow you’d see what I mean.
It’s for that reason, RTA, that I’m hesitant to find them again, even though I simultaneously want to… if that makes any sense. I’d hate to see these and think they were juvenile crap. I have such fond memories…
- Rick
I’ve read them a couple years ago, and they were still good. Some of the books are stronger than others (I prefer the ones with Will than the ones from the POV of the other kids), but still a damn good series. If we’re talking about really good “juvenile” fantasy, I recommend the Chronicals of Prydain as well (Taran Wanderer, The Black Cauldron, The High King, etc.). And Jane Yolen writes spectacular “young adult” fantasy; our best modern-day mythmaker, IMHO.
- Power of the Greenwitch, lost beneath the sea. *
–John
As much as I hate to send business away, I have to tell you that The Science Fiction Book Club no longer has the omnibus 5-in-1 The Dark Is Rising in print. It went away almost a year ago.
(How do I know? I work there…)
Great series, by the way. If you liked it, try Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series – yet another book the SFBC used to have as an omnibus (all my favorite books are going out of print!)
…but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
Holy Shittin fartnips! I was trying to remember those books! Hell, I’ve been trying to remember for YEARS! Jesus! Thank you Rick!
::gives Rick a big sloppy kiss and runs to the library::
I sold my soul to Satan for a dollar. I got it in the mail.
I read them when I was about 20, but though I enjoyed them, they had a kind of Enid Blyton-ish tone to them I felt. Well, not really, maybe they were just dated.
Anyway, reading it after having read books I consider more superior, and at that age, they didn’t quite do to me what they would’ve if I’d been 12 and it was my first experience with fantasy since fairy tales.
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Shadow of the Pigeon -
Weirdo of the Night
Yeeeep! I’m glad I grabbed my copy when I did. We figure that the paperbacks are for the kids to get into and enjoy, and the hardback is ours.